Winners and losers from the first wave of free agency

Free agency isn't even 48 hours old, but with so many key players signed it's already time for us to start handing out awards. Here's a look at who won and who lost during the first day and a half of the new league year…

Winner: Denver Broncos — Are you kidding me? Replace Dominique Rodgers Cromartie with Aqib Talib and then add support for Von Miller with DeMarcus freakin' Ware. Oh, and T.J. Ward. They'll get over the loss of Eric Decker. Imagine this defense now, especially with Miller back. They're jacked. 

Loser: Oakland Raiders — The gap between good and bad in the AFC West widens by the day. Not only did the Raiders let Jared Veldheer, Lamarr Houston and Rashad Jennings walk despite having more than $60 million in cap space, but then they overpaid Austin Howard and Rodger Saffold, who they ended up losing anyway after a failed physical. What a mess. 

Winner: New England Patriots — All it took was Darrelle Revis, who at a reasonable price comes as a huge upgrade over Talib. Anything else is gravy. 

Loser: Dallas Cowboys — No cap space means they'll likely enter 2014 without Ware, Anthony Spencer and Jason Hatcher. That hurts. 

Winner: Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Revis wasn't worth $16 million, and now they've replaced him with Alterraun Verner, who is a Pro Bowl-caliber player. They also bolstered the front seven with Michael Johnson, who had 11.5 sacks in 2012, and could have a new starting quarterback in Josh McCown. 

Loser: Kansas City Chiefs — After such a big 2013 offseason, they're low on cap space. As a result, starting offensive linemen Branden Albert, Jon Asamoah and Geoff Schwartz are gone, as are Dexter McCluster and Tyson Jackson. They're young, but they've taken a step backward. 

About Brad Gagnon

Brad Gagnon has been passionate about both sports and mass media since he was in diapers -- a passion that won't die until he's in them again. Based in Toronto, he's worked as a national NFL blog editor at theScore.com (covering Super Bowls XLIV, XLV and XLVI), a producer and writer at theScore Television Network and a host, reporter and play-by-play voice at Rogers TV. His work has also appeared at Deadspin, FoxSports.com, The Guardian, The Hockey News and elsewhere at Bloguin, but his day gig has him covering all things NFC East for Bleacher Report.

Quantcast